1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to apparatus for interconnecting electrical circuit elements and more particularly to a solderless circuit connection for establishing and maintaining electrical contact between the circuit elements.
2. Descripton of the Prior Art
A conventional method of interconnecting electrical circuit components consists of soldering terminals located on the respective components to conductors which deliver current to or from the components. While generally suitable for its intended purposes, interconnecting electrical components via soldering terminals does suffer from certain drawbacks and deficiencies. For example, the substrate which supports an exposed terminal must be able to withstand relatively high temperatures with no adverse effects. Moreover, soldering connections can be time consuming, and therefore can be labor intensive and expensive. Another problem with soldered connections is the relative difficulty in disconnecting a soldered terminal during repairs and manufacturing.
In some applications it has been found desirable to replace soldering as a technique for use in establishing connections to flexible and other circuits. In these applications the requisite electrical contact may be established by mechanically pressing the terminal portions of the circuit against terminal pads on the connector, device or another cirtcuit. Such prior art pressure connections are customarily made with the aid of a solid resilient pressure applicator, such as an elastomeric member, which is placed in compression to bias at least one of the components to be electrically interconnected toward the other component to hold the terminal portions of the respective components in electrical contact.
Typically, a flexible printed circuit and a hardboard printed circuit are held with the terminal portions of their respective electrical conductors in electrical contact by being sandwiched between a nonconducting rigid bracket and a nonconducting rigid base. The bracket is screwed or otherwise mechanically connected to the base, and thereby compresses an elastomer pad to bias the flexible printed circuit into electrical contact with the hardboard printed circuit. Additional prior art examples illustrating the use of a bracket or other suitable clamping means for holding the flexible and hardboard printed circuits in electrical contact are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,825,878, granted July 23, 1974; 3,977,756, granted Aug. 31, 1976; 4,468,074, granted Aug. 28, 1984; and 4,610,495, granted Sep. 9, 1986. A shortcoming of these prior art examples is that they each must employ a rigid bracket or clamp to hold the flexible and hardboard printed circuits in electrical contact. This adds to the size, expense, and complexity of the assemblage.